• An integral development approach
• Feasibility Analysis
• Concept Development
• Master planning & Mixed development
• Contracting & Tendering
• Operational Planning
• Training & Professional development
• Project Management
• Specialist Consultancy

CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT

In the second and one of the most important phases of any stadium project, the stadium concept is defined. At The Stadium Consultancy we strive to develop sustainable stadium concepts, based on three themes 1) the safe stadium, 2) the profitable stadium and 3) the compelling stadium.

The safe stadium

First and foremost stadiums should be safe and secure with the aim of minimising physical risks to the players, staff and spectators. To this end the Green Guide ("Guide to Safety at Sports Grounds") forms the basis of our stadium concepts. At the same time all safety measures taken should be as visitor-friendly as possible and not to the detriment of the visitor experience. We believe that safety measures -when applied properly- can actually go hand in hand with an improved visitor experience.

The profitable stadium

Secondly, modern stadiums should aim at maximising income from stadium operations for its owners. At The Stadium Consultancy we try to achieve this in two ways: by increasing the matchday income and by increasing the use of the stadium.

Increasing the matchday income has many aspects to it of which setting the stadium capacity is a strategic decision. By price segmentation and yield management, the gate receipts can be further optimised. Especially the business to business segment has become increasingly important in today's stadiums, often generating more than 50% of the matchday income with less than 10% of the stadium capacity. Stadium rights, hospitality & catering, merchandising and parking are all major sources of income.

Increasing the use of modern stadiums is an absolute necessity; no longer these expensive buildings should be used only once a fortnight. Other ways of obtaining a return (i.e. use) on investment should be explored. This can be achieved by developing a multipurpose stadium, in which other events -such as concerts- can also take place. However, not every city or location has a market for such non-football events and the competition to host such events is strong. Moreover, for a variety of reasons, some owners prefer to only host football events in the stadium bowl. Nowadays most new stadiums are multifunctional. They incorporate functions -not required for football matches- which generate traffic to the stadium on a daily basis, such as for example retail, conference facilities, offices and restaurants. Often rooms used during a football match can be converted and used for another function on a weekday. By double using rooms even more synergies can be achieved.

The compelling stadium

Last but not least we believe that modern stadiums should provide compelling visitor experiences. In today's experience economy a visit to the stadium is competing with a broad offer of live football on TV as well as a range of other entertainment options. By offering more than just simply staging a match stadiums can stay ahead of the game.

As there is no best stadium concept, we attempt to balance these themes in each specific situation and develop a tailor-made stadium concept in order to realise the best solution possible to the specifics of the local conditions and market environment.

The most important elements of our stadium concept are:

• the stadium business plan, which describes the financial performance objectives of the stadium;
• the stadium program, which describes the functional performance of the building in order to achieve the financial performance as well as the external requirements (e.g. by UEFA) and the operational requirements; and
• the conceptual design, a visualisation of the stadium program in basic floor layouts and cross sections of the stadium.